Well i've taken on some advice from the last couple of reviews and admit I may have bitten off more than i can chew, but as i am now determined to finish this story I'm going to try and slim it down as much as possible, in the mean time i give you chapter 14
This Dark Day
Kazu's heavy Hypnos boots skidded round the corner, tearing up part of the carpet and almost causing him to fall. Fortunately he managed to steady himself at the last second and continue his mad dash down the seemingly endless, and surprisingly empty, corridors. Rika and Ryo weren't far behind, but as they barely made the corner they were followed by a short burst of plasma fire.
"Just were the hell did they come from?" Ryo found himself shouting
"How am I supposed to know?" Rika bit back. She lifted her head up in time to see Kazu race round another corner "who would have guessed he could run so fast?"
"I'm just glad the Akkatarians can't run that fast" a fresh bolt of plasma raced past his head "or shoot straight"
Rika twisted her head back to see the two Akkatarians still chasing them, and slowly gaining "I thought you said they weren't that fast"
Ryo slid round the corner that he'd seen Kazu race round "Well they haven't caught us yet have they"
He skidded to a halt and wrenched back the bolt of his carbine as Rika shot past him. After a quick glance down the sights and he fired three bursts dropping both Akkatarians in quick succession. With the threat gone, Rika stopped running, looking from Ryo to the bodies.
"Why didn't I do that in the first place?" he wondered aloud as he slowly lowered his carbine.
His answer came as the once empty corridor seemed to shimmer and a fresh group of Akkatarians materialised, perhaps fifteen or twenty.
Rika and Ryo both instinctively ducked behind cover as Rika turned back to Kazu "You go on ahead, we'll hold them off here"
Ryo gave her an astonished and questioning look "what? How the hell are we meant to hold them off?" plasma fire burning into the wall they were sheltering behind
Rika cocked her own carbine, cutting Ryo's complaint short "With guts and lead"
With a cheeky grin, Kazu gave her a half-wave half-salute. This was the side of Rika he liked, the side that he had to admit turned him on a little; that no-nonsense devil-may-care side of her. For the first time he was actually glad she was here "See you later Ice queen"
Rika sneered, aiming her carbine down the corridor at the almost senseless Akkatarians "I really hate that man"
On the Entebbe you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Sora, Kazuki and Willis were all nervous as hell and had fingers hovering over triggers "How could a massive Akkatarian fleet sneak past Starfleet anyway?" Sora demanded, still not entirely sure if she trusted Willis or not, after all the man had done nothing when Matt was being murdered.
"They must have created a diversion, Lure Starfleet away then attack the planet" Willis didn't sound like he was very bothered by the situation.
Sora still wasn't convinced "But why? If their fleets so big why go to all the trouble"
Kazuki offered his opinion "They might be strong enough to take out the eight fleet but we can have four more here in a matter of hours. All the eighth fleet has to do is hold them up. My guess is they want to be done as quickly as possible"
In truth it was really anyone's guess, even to someone like Willis who had read all the reports and Intel this whole situation seemed to make no sense. There were too many unanswered questions, too much missing information.
Willis raised one finger to his lips, successfully silencing the other two "Any minute now" he murmured, he could feel it.
No sooner had the words left his lips than the space in front of him shimmered, and half a dozen tall muscular Akkatarians appeared all around the little group. Their lizard like snouts covered in battle scars and their tough scales were such a dark green they were almost black. They all raised their weapons, instantly covering the three Terrans.
"Oh, I forgot they could do that"
The door to Takato's cell flew open as the Hypnos guard was hurled inside. Takato, startled by the sudden unexpected movement, threw up a hand to protect his eyes from the light that flooded back into the once dark cell.
The Hypnos guard writhed on the floor, his hand struggling to free his pistol from its holster. His fingers were still fumbling around the handle as an imposing Akkatarian leapt in after him, firing several rounds into his stomach.
The Akkatarian turned to Takato, its snout twisting into some grotesque mockery of a smile.
If it was feeling some form of triumph then it was short lived. Three bullets burst from its chest and it dropped down beside the dead guard.
With the cell now open Takato could clearly hear gunfire outside, and not just a few pot shots but a full blown battle. He found himself blinking profusely; he'd been locked up in the dark for far too long.
A tall dark haired sergeant, flanked by three fully armed guards suddenly filled the doorway. Two of the guards grabbed him by the arm's and dragging him out of the cell, in his weakened state he could offer no resistance. The sergeant, still firing his SMG at some attacker Takato couldn't see, bellowed over the sound of battle "Get the specimen out of here. We can't let it fall into enemy hands"
Takato resented being referred to as an 'it' but he had learnt by now that charm wasn't one of Hypnos's strong points. Right now he was just glad to be alive and out of that awful cell; although he had been hoping to leave it under better circumstances.
The Hypnos guards were pushed steadily back, their numbers ever thinning as they made their way to the shuttle bay. A fully armoured corporeal staggered in beside the sergeant "It's no good, we can't hold them much longer"
The sergeant seemed unconcerned "I'm initiating operation Clausewitz. You know the procedure, if your shuttle is captured…" he glanced at Takato "Vaporise the subject. It's vital the enemy don't get their hands on it, do you understand?"
The corporal threw up his arm in a stiff salute "Understood, it's been an honour serving with you"
"Get going" The sergeant ordered.
The guards hurled Takato into a shuttle, piling in after him. Their weapons trained on him and the expressionless gas masked faces staring at him. He wondered again what he had done to deserve this, why he was being treated like this. He felt like breaking down into tears of despair, but didn't even have the strength left to cry.
They had broken him.
Still in the shuttle bay the Hypnos sergeant pulled a chain from around his neck. On it hung a complex green and gold security chip.
Now there was only one final duty to perform.
Operation Clausewitz demanded the destruction of all Hypnos equipment and information to prevent it falling into enemy hands, and by that they meant everything.
Davis was craning over Izzy's shoulder trying, and failing, to work out what he was doing.
"So can you get it open?" he enquired, referring of course to the heavy cell door that blocked their escape and had fascinated Izzy for so long. He had hoped that Izzy would allow him to help in some way as Davis had never been the kind of person to sit back and watch; yet at the same time he did have the engineering skills of a blind shrew so it was understandable why Izzy had decided to do the work himself.
Izzy pulled out a pale green computer chip "Any door can be opened if you have the right key" he said cryptically
Davis groaned. He should have expected that. Izzy could never just explain something in plain English, he always had to find a way of complicating the obvious "So have you got this key or whatever?"
Izzy slid the chip back into the panel, resulting in the panel lighting up like a Christmas tree and the door sliding effortlessly open "You can take that as a yes"
Davis gave him a hearty slap on the back "I'll never doubt you again"
He looked up, ready to attempt escape and expecting to have to clobber some Hypnos guard. In fact he found himself staring straight into Tai's face, a vibrant smile spread across his face "Sorry I took so long"
Tai was standing with two officers, one serious and harsh looking, the other looked more friendly. Both were wearing uniforms that were similar, but not identical to the Hypnos ones.
The serious looking officer gave Tai a stern look "Now we've rescued your friends" Davis could tell from the way he said that one word that this officer had a rather low opinion of him and Izzy, nevertheless the officer went on "Perhaps we can concentrate on more important matters"
Davis pointed at the two officers "Eh Tai, who are these guys?"
Tai gave the stern officer a quick glance as if he was about to explain, quickly seeing the irritation on his face he decided against it "It's a long story, and one that we apparently don't have time for"
"There more important matter to deal with" the officers voice rising ever so slightly as he spoke
"Hold on" Tai interrupted "What about Takato? You told me he was here too?"
"Takato's fate lies down another path" the officer said, his voice returning to it's original calmness
Tai scoffed "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he spread his hands "What if the Akkatarians capture him"
The second officer spoke from behind him "Nothing, The Akkatarians don't give a rat's ass about him. They've got more important things to worry about"
"And so do we" the stern officer added
"Like what?" Davis queried, feeling out of the loop once again.
The second officer gave him a friendly smile "the end of the world, that's what"
T.K paced impatiently at the front of the bridge. This was a disaster, a total and utter disaster. Why had he not seen it earlier "Time?" he asked Cody for the hundredth time.
"Five hours twelve minutes present speed"
"Can you not get anything else out of her?" he asked, to which Henry just shook his head
"Sorry captain"
face hardened in frustration "what about he rest of the fleet?" This third question aimed at Ken at his science station
Ken scanned his monitors quickly "They are approximately 5 minutes behind us sir" he moved towards his captain "Evidently Sam drew the same conclusion that you did"
"Yes it does appear that way" T.K found himself pacing again "let's just hope we're not too late"
In an attempt to lighten the mode Takuya straightened his tunic "Well the Cavalry always arrives at the last minute don't they"
No one laughed
The Hypnos base was now almost entirely deserted. Most of the guards were dead and most of the unarmed personnel had either been evacuated with key specimens and equipment or they had shared the same fate as the guards.
Any further resistance was now not only futile but impossible.
It was a fact that the Hypnos Sergeant, who had captured the legendary Tai Kamiya and managed to save Hypnos's prized specimen from oblivion, found hard to accept. He had been in Hypnos for years; he'd fought Akkatarians before and knew them for the stupid brutes they were. To be defeated by them so quickly was just sickening for him.
Never mind, the bastards wouldn't get to live with their triumph for long. He tossed the security chip into the air and neatly caught it again. If he was going down then he'd take the whole damn pack of them with him.
He slid the chip into the nearest computer terminal "Computer begin Operation Clausewitz"
As the computer flashed into life a heavy fist slammed down onto the back of his neck. It was a blow that should have killed him outright if it hadn't been for his armour. He let out a pained gasp before swinging round to deliver a sharp punch to his attacker's stomach. His armoured fist crashed against equally heavy Hypnos armour catching him by surprise for the second time. He would not be surprised for long. He grabbed the attackers arm, mid punch, and backhanded his fist across the attacker's unprotected jaw. His attacker, an athletic looking male probably in his twenties with an unruly mass of brown hair, was however willing to fight dirty. He brought up his knee, as hard as he could into the Sergeants crotch. The metal kneepad inflicting more pain than he had thought was humanly possible. As he bent over at the wound his attacker threw a heavy punch into his face sending him reeling back into the computer console. Drawing his pistol, the attacker slammed it into the sergeant's chin "where's Takato?" The attacker demanded
The Sergeant gave him an aggressive snarl "Carlson, J. Rank Sergeant. Serial number…." The butt of the pistol slammed into his jaw, successfully stopping him mid sentence.
"Don't give me that crap" The attacker snapped back "Tell me what you've done with Takato"
"Why?" Sergeant, Carlson, shot back with a smirk "What's he to you?"
The attacker pressed the barrel of his Desert Eagle still further into Carlson's chin "He's a friend, and if you don't tell me then I'll blow you're fucking head off"
Carlson scoffed "and were will that leave you" His face a picture of control and contempt "I can't tell you anything if I'm dead can I?"
The attacker's anger was now overflowing, the rage plainly visible on his face "WHERE IS HE?" he roared "WHERE?"
As if on cue, the computers that filled the room exploded one after another. Carlson's smile widened "Even if I tell you it will do you no good. In no time at all, this building will be dust and you along with it"
It was now his attackers turn to smirk, as he held up a chain holding the security chip "Not without this it's not" he threw the security chip away "Now tell me were he is" he persisted
Deciding to change tactics Carlson snarled "You're too late, he's long gone" he almost spat the last few words "and by the time we're finished with him, he'll wish he'd died a long time ago"
He was probing this attacker, seeing how far he could push him, get him off guard
"Tell me exactly where he is?" The attacker snarled though gritted teeth "This is your last chance"
"No, it's yours" Carlson drew his pistol as quickly as he could, planning to kill this son of a bitch, reset Clausewitz and get out of here whilst he still could but his attacker had anticipated his move. In one swoop he grabbed the sergeant's wrist with his free hand, twisting the gun away.
"That was damn stupid" he snapped and then he fired.
Carlson's head snapped back at an unnatural angle as blood sprayed from his head and spattered over the wall. Releasing Carlson's gun the attacker rose, he had learned what he wanted to know. He flipped open his communicator whilst he re-holstered his pistol "Rika, Takato's gone. I think it's time we left"
He would find Takato, even if he had to go to the ends of the universe, he'd save him
As for Hypnos, they could go to hell, and Kazu was more than willing to show them the way.
Well that was the final appearance of the Tamer's characters in this story. I've started work on a spin off that will wrap up the Tamers act but I just feel leaving them in this story is just one lose end too many to tie up at the end.
I will try to get the next chapter finished ASAP, untill then reviews are, as always, appreciated.